DERBY -- Stalled downtown development is an issue that Anita Dugatto says can help her pull off an upset in defeating four-term Mayor Anthony Staffieri.

Staffieri, however, has plans of his own -- to entice small to mid-level developers to reconstruct, building by building.

"Our downtown offers 17 acres of public and privately owned property," the mayor said. "We have strong interest from a developer with a good track record in Connecticut. He has funding and a tenant and would like the opportunity to develop a piece of property."

That might be the first good news for the state's smallest city in some time.

In April, Eclipse Development Group of California dropped plans to turn the nearly vacant downtown into a 180,000-square-foot, village-type shopping center. But failure to cut deals with six property owners as well as high financing costs led that developer to drop the project.

"I haven't heard anything since then," said Dugatto, a practicing dentist who owns Sunflower Dental Care on Elizabeth Street. "We need to get our name out there and entice businesses to want to come here."

Dugatto, a Democrat, says this city of nearly 13,000 residents condensed into just 5 square miles (making it Connecticut's littlest) needs to become part of the Connecticut Main Street Program. That involves the community, downtown businesses and potential investors participating in a four-step, long-term plan.

"When the mayor took office, he said the downtown was a high priority, that he could get things done faster and better than his predecessor," Dugatto said. "Well its been eight years and a lot of taxpayer money spent, with nothing to show for it."

She enters the race at a voter advantage. The city's 6,555 registered voters are broken down into 2,633 Democrats, 950 Republicans, 47 in other parties and 2,925 unaffiliated voters. In recent weeks Dugatto called in big guns, like U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, both D-Conn., to campaign with her.

Staffieri, a Republican who was an owner of Connie's Restaurant for many years, relies on his own popularity. He points out that Derby was "one of a handful" of Connecticut municipalities to lower taxes this year as well as maintain an AA bond rating.

The mayor cites the development along Route 34 heading toward New Haven, where Lowe's, Starbucks, GameStop and Edge Fitness have put down stakes in Derby during his administration. And he said he expects a brighter future, with the Xpect Discounts site on Pershing Drive becoming a Walgreens, Aldi Foods and Panera Bread.

"We should build around that," Dugatto said, proposing more mathematics, science and even health care programs in the school system in attempting to lure health-care related businesses and industry into the city.

"We could bring in high-tech, high-skilled jobs for our people ... These would be long-term, good paying jobs when compared to the option of retail," she said.